The setting of Main Street is Gopher Prairie, a bastion of prosaic, small-minded, middle-class values. Its newest inhabitant is the beautiful young Carol Kennicott, just married to the town doctor. Carol is an idealist, inspired by a vision of crusading reform: she dreams of single-handedly transforming her adopted hometown into an oasis of beauty, refinement and culture. But Carol is no match for Gopher Prairie's deeply rooted provincialism, and the place is quite impervious to her bettering efforts. Her ill-fated struggle to overcome the compacency, bigotry and hypocrisy of this one small town becomes Lewis's devastating, satiric take on all small towns.